


A Simple Lie and A Simple Misunderstanding

by Miyuki_scourgeofthefirenation



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Based on a Tumblr Post, F/M, Fake Zutara, Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Friendship, Gen, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mostly Canon Compliant, POV Hakoda, POV Sokka (Avatar), POV Zuko (Avatar), Secret Relationship, Sexual Situations, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, except when I don't want to, fic request, poor Zuko, real Zukka, the comics? I don't know her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:49:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25037266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miyuki_scourgeofthefirenation/pseuds/Miyuki_scourgeofthefirenation
Summary: Hakoda thought he knew what the situation was with his children and their friends. Specifically, he thought he understood the situation between Katara and Zuko. Watching Zuko and Sokka interact now, however, and he's not so sure anymore.What was Firelord Zuko playing at?Based on the Tumblr post where Hakoda doesn't know which of his kids Zuko is dating.
Relationships: Aang & Sokka (Avatar), Aang & Suki (Avatar), Aang & Toph Beifong, Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), Hakoda & Katara (Avatar), Hakoda & Sokka (Avatar), Hakoda & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Katara & Suki (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Katara, Toph Beifong & Sokka, Toph Beifong & Zuko
Comments: 345
Kudos: 2443





	1. Were You Ever Planning on Telling Me?

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is based on the Tumblr post talking about Hakoda not knowing which of his kids Zuko is dating by mayzakie!
> 
> I decided to not make it a secret which kid it is to you, the reader, since one look at my account will tell you exactly how this is gonna end. So instead we’re just gonna torment poor Hakoda. And poor Zuko. It’s gonna be fun, I promise ;)
> 
> Also, this is the most sexual thing I’ve written. It’s not explicit by any means, but still more sexual than what I’ve written in the past so consider this your warning regarding that.
> 
> Ages: Zuko-19, Sokka and Suki-18, Katara-16 almost 17, Aang-15, Toph-14

Zuko was carefully reading over a new proposal for a trade agreement with the Earth Kingdom when Sokka burst through the door of his study. By this point Zuko was far too used to the antics of the other teenager to pay this much mind. He just sighed and looked up from his desk. However, the expression on the younger boy’s face was completely new. It was hovered somewhere between disbelief, amusement, anger, and something else Zuko couldn’t even name.

“Sokka?” Zuko asked, his brow furrowing and worry creeping into his voice, “What is it? Is something wrong?”

“Uh,” Sokka said, his tone mirroring the way his face looked. “I don’t know, is there? See I just got a letter from home. A very _interesting_ letter from my dad…” He held up the scroll at that point and waved it around for emphasis.

“Okay,” Zuko said slowly, “well, do you need to go home or-”

“Oh, just read it!” Sokka snapped and tossed the scroll onto Zuko’s desk. Zuko hesitantly picked it up and began to read. And oh, oh no. Oh no no no _no_.

“So,” Sokka continued, raising his eyebrows and crossing his arms over his chest. “Were you ever planning on telling me that you were in a relationship with my sister?” Zuko groaned and dropped his head onto the desk. “Because, and call me crazy here, that is actually information I like to be made aware of before _I_ go ahead and start a relationship with somebody.”

Zuko groaned again and pulled his head up off the desk to look up at Sokka. “It seems there’s been a terrible misunderstanding.”

* * *

It had been just a few days after his coronation when Katara approached Zuko. He had been walking down a hallway when she ran up to him. “Hey,” she said, pulling him aside, “can I talk to you? Somewhere private?”

“Uh, sure,” Zuko replied, a little wary since while they had been getting along a lot better since their Southern Raiders adventure, he still wasn’t as friendly with her as the others. “Here,” he strode forward briskly and pushed open the door to his study, indicating to the guards following at a discreet distance to stay out in the hallway.

“Great,” Katara said, carefully looking around the room. She seemed nervous about something, which was making Zuko nervous in turn. He hadn’t forgotten what she was capable of after all, and was rather fond of his blood staying right where it was currently thank you very much.

“So,” Zuko started, hoping he sounded casual, “what is this about? Everything okay?”

Katara spun around to face him. “Yeah, yeah everything is fine, it’s just..” she took a deep breath, “I need to ask you a favor.”

“What?” Zuko asked.

“You know that I want to go travel with Aang when he leaves to commence his Avatar duties.”

“Yes, and I’m sure the two of you will do an excellent job.”

Katara hesitated, “Yeah, me too. But the thing is that there’s no way my dad is going to let me go travel around the world with my boyfriend at the age of fourteen…”

Zuko paused and considered this. “I mean, I’m sure you’re right but I don’t know what you want me to do about that. I could try to talk to him, but it’s not like I hold any sway with him-”

“No,” Katara quickly cut in. “No, I don’t want you to talk to him. I’ve already talked to him. I just need you to go along with what I told him.”

Zuko narrowed his eyes, “And what did you tell him?”

“I, uh, sort of told him that me going with Aang would be fine because I liked… someone else. Liked… you?” she winced a little on the last word.

“Katara!” Zuko groaned.

“I know, I know! I’m sorry, but I panicked and then it was already out there and worked as an excuse and I-” She stopped at the look Zuko was giving her.

“Does Aang know about this?”

“No, not yet, but I’ll tell him. I just wanted to talk to you first…” Zuko groaned again. “Look,” she said, “it’s just for right now, to get my dad to let me go on the trip. You don’t even really need to do anything.”

He raised an eyebrow at that. “Really?”

“Nope!” Katara then faltered, “Well…” Zuko couldn’t even groan anymore and instead let out a humorless laugh. “Okay, so it would be useful if you could sort of pretend that maybe you might like me back too. Nothing major, just standing closer to me, laughing at my jokes, that sort of thing. At least while my dad’s around.”

Zuko stared at her for a long moment. She then proceeded to adopt an exaggerated puppy-dog face and Zuko scoffed and looked away. 

“I can’t believe I’m about to agree to this,” he muttered.

Katara squealed, “You’ll do it?”

“I guess so,” Zuko said, throwing his hands up.

“Thank you Zuko! You’re the best!” Katara exclaimed.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, just don’t let this little charade drag on too long!” Zuko called as she bounded over to the door. She turned and gave him two thumbs up before she was gone. And Zuko was left with the feeling that he probably should not have done that.

* * *

Clearly the charade had dragged on way too long, Zuko through wryly. He should have known that agreement would come back to bite him in the ass. Because now it was two years later and Hakoda thought Zuko and Katara were _involved_ in some way. The letter to Sokka was mostly about arrangements for the Water Tribe’s travel to the Fire Nation for the annual celebration of the war’s end, but he was also dropping some pretty heavy hints about Zuko and Katara. Trying to see if Sokka had any more information about the situation, since Sokka spent a lot of time with the Firelord as a liaison for the Water Tribe. And Sokka was understandably pissed about this supposed _involvement_ since over the past few months he had started to liaise with Zuko in more ways than one.

Zuko was just relieved that Sokka had accepted his explanation for why Hakoda thought this. Or at least he figured Sokka had accepted his explanation. While he hadn’t actually said anything to that effect, he had moved around the desk as Zuko was talking and was now sitting on Zuko's lap. Which was always a win in Zuko's book.

“I just can’t believe she managed to pull this off for these past couple years,” Sokka sighed, absentmindedly playing with the tassels on Zuko's shirt.

Zuko shrugged, “I guess being away from your dad and you being here so often worked in her favor.”

Sokka narrowed his eyes, “Don’t think I’ve forgotten your participation in this little plot of hers either. You’re in big trouble mister Firelord.”

Zuko spluttered. “I’m sorry! I didn’t think she was gonna carry out the ruse for this long or that, you know, we’d get together.” He ducked his head awkwardly to avoid Sokka’s gaze. Sokka snickered. “To be fair it was still fairly early in our friendship and I was just trying to avoid having her bloodbend me!”

“And what about me? Aren’t you worried I’m gonna bloodbend you instead?” Sokka looked offended as Zuko peered up at him.

“No, because you can’t bloodbend me you weirdo.”

“Oh, can’t I?” Sokka asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“That is a very different insinuation,” Zuko laughed.

“Yeah it is.”

“And anyway,” Zuko flushed and stuttered a bit, “you know I don’t have a problem with you, uh, doing.. that.”

“Good,” Sokka smirked, bringing his face down so that he and Zuko were forehead to forehead. “Because you’re mine.”

“Yes,” Zuko breathed as Sokka’s lips slowly traveled down his body. _I am._


	2. Uh, Yeah, I Guess I Missed You Too

The next few weeks passed quickly, with the flurry of preparations being made for the upcoming celebration. Sokka and Zuko had spoken about it, and decided that Zuko would talk to Katara as soon as he could after her arrival about getting her to explain the truth of the whole thing to Hakoda. This was important since the two had been planning on using this opportunity to tell their friends and family they were in a relationship while everyone was in one place. Less chance of misinformation spreading that way they figured, though admittedly there already was rather more misinformation in the mix than they would like.

Before long the day of everyone’s arrival was upon them. Well, most everyone. Uncle Iroh, Toph, and Suki had all travelled together from the Earth Kingdom and had arrived the day before. The three had a lovely dinner with Zuko and Sokka that night.

Now Sokka and Zuko were standing on the docks of the capital city with an escort of guards, waiting for the Water Tribe ships to arrive. They also kept a watch on the sky, Katara and Aang could show up at any minute too.

After about fifteen minutes the ships came into view. Sokka let out a delighted whoop, and ran down the dock to make sure he was the first to greet his dad and the rest of the passengers. Zuko watched him affectionately. He loved how energetic and fun his boyfriend was, it reminded Zuko to loosen up more himself. 

As he stood there watching Sokka greet his father Appa came into view overhead, making his way towards the special bison landing strip Zuko had set up in an empty field close to the palace. Wonderful. Now Zuko would finally get to talk to Katara and sort the whole messy situation out.

* * *

“So how have you been son?” Hakoda asked Sokka as they were walking towards where Katara and Aang had landed with Appa. He had thrown an arm around his shoulders, though due to Sokka’s recent growth spurt that wasn’t as easy as it used to be.

“I’ve been good. Been busy here you know, especially with all the additional preparations for the celebration,” Sokka replied happily. “I really miss you and being at home, but it’s nice to be here and help the tribe in this way. Plus,” his eyes slid forward to where Zuko strode in front of them.

Hakoda chuckled. “It’s also nice for you to get to spend so much time with your best friend?” Sokka’s eyes shot back to look at his father and then quickly looked down to the ground, something guarded in his expression all of a sudden.

“Yeah,” he mumbled. Hakoda turned his attention back to the Firelord who was leading them briskly towards where the bison had landed. Zuko had politely greeted Hakoda and the rest of the Southern Water Tribe members upon their arrival, but had seemed anxious to get to where the others had just arrived.

He thought it was sweet, how eager Zuko was to see Katara. He occasionally asked his daughter about the Firelord, but her responses were relatively vague. That made sense, he reasoned, of course she wouldn’t want to share too much about the boy she liked and her interactions with him with her father. Hakoda hadn’t been entirely sure what Zuko’s feelings towards Katara were, but watching him move briskly now with the prospect of seeing her he had a sense the crush was mutual.

At that moment Sokka stepped out from under Hakoda’s arm with a smile and ran up to walk alongside Zuko. Hakoda watched as Zuko turned to his son with a wide grin on his face. He wasn’t close enough to make out what they were saying to each other, but scattered words and laughter drifted back to him. 

He was pleased at how close they were. Sokka’s letters to home always included what Hakoda had dubbed the ‘Zuko Section,’ where the teenager went on at length about things involving Zuko. ‘Zuko and I did this today,’ ‘Zuko told off that noble finally,’ ‘I made Zuko laugh so hard tea came out of his nose,’ that sort of thing. If he didn’t know better Hakoda would have sworn Sokka was the one with the crush on Zuko rather than Katara.

* * *

They arrived quickly at the field. Aang and Katara had already dismounted from Appa, and were chatting with some of the attendants there while they waited for the party from the docks to get there. Hakoda hung back for a moment, wanting to let the kids greet each other first. Wanting to let Katara and Zuko greet each other specifically. It had been a year since they had last seen each other after all.

He was surprised then when Zuko rushed to greet Aang first and Katara swept Sokka into a hug. That was unexpected. Hakoda watched for a moment longer as the group closed into a huddle of sorts, the four standing in a circle talking over each other and laughing. Sokka had performed a complicated handshake with Aang as a greeting, but Zuko and Katara still hadn’t so much as bowed to each other in greeting, much less hugged as Hakoda would have expected.

Katara then glanced over and caught sight of Hakoda and stilled for a moment before her demeanor instantly changed. She pulled her attention back to the group, let out a loud squeal and launched herself into Zuko’s arms. Zuko looked wildly back and forth between Sokka and Aang and awkwardly patted her on the back. Aang giggled and Sokka let out a snort.

Hakoda began walking towards the group as he heard Katara exclaim, “Zuko! I missed you!”

“Uh, yeah, I guess I missed you too,” Zuko said, extracting himself from Katara’s hug. Hakoda then reached the group, and he could have sworn he saw Zuko’s eyes narrow at Katara as she turned her focus onto him instead.

“Dad!” she cried, rushing to fling her arms around him. Hakoda closed his eyes and hugged her back tightly. He really missed having his children around more often. He knew they were off doing important things for the world, but that didn’t mean he didn’t wish he could keep them home with him all the time.

They begin walking back to the palace as a group, with Hakoda falling into a conversation with Aang about some of the cool animals he and Katara had encountered on their travels. His attention is diverted though by a snippet of a conversation he hears behind him.

“Katara,” Zuko said in a low voice, “I need to talk to you. Alone. It’s urgent.” Frowning, Hakoda wondered what could be so urgent. Zuko hadn’t exactly seemed all that eager to interact with her one on one before. But then again, maybe he just hadn’t wanted to make a big scene in front of everyone, especially her dad.

“Hmmm,” Katara hummed absently. “Oh, alright. But later okay? Not… here.”

“Fine,” Zuko muttered shortly, sounding annoyed. Katara then skipped up alongside Hakoda and joined in with Aang on regaling him with tales of their adventures. He carefully peered back to sneak a look at Zuko’s reaction. 

Zuko was regarding Katara almost coldly. Sokka then said something causing Zuko to look over at him and the shift was instant. He went from closed off to open and soft, laughing easily at the jokes Sokka was cracking. Hakoda had the sudden sense that there was something he was missing. Before he could dwell on the thought too much though Aang had asked him a question about polar dogs and he turned back to answer.

* * *

Zuko spent the rest of the day trying to get Katara to talk to him. She somehow kept managing to avoid him whenever he tried to get her alone. Worse still was when he tried to talk to her when Hakoda and the others were around because then she just got weird and flirty which Zuko was not comfortable with at all. Plus Zuko had the sinking feeling that his continued attempts to talk to her in front of an audience were not helping the whole ‘not actually into Katara’ vibe he was wanting to project in front of Hakoda. 

Spirits, why had he ever agreed to this? He already didn’t have the best socializing record, how the fuck was he supposed to explain to Hakoda that not only was he not into his daughter, but that he was in fact into his son. Very into his son. So into his son it might actually be pathetic, regardless of said son reciprocating the feelings. Where does someone even start with that? Zuko had to wonder. But first he had to talk to Katara, and end this charade once and for all.

* * *

The next day was the night when the big party for all the leaders, diplomats, and guests was happening. Zuko had elected to spend the day finalizing the preparations for that night, which had the added benefit of getting to be in close contact with Sokka who was helping with those same preparations. He also figured that this way he could hopefully manage to catch Katara off-guard that night at the party. Since he wouldn’t have been trying to talk with her all day he reckoned that she wouldn’t be as skittish around him that night. He had a feeling she knew exactly why he wanted to talk to her, and was avoiding him because she didn’t want to have to tell Hakoda about her lie. 

Well, he didn’t think she knew the _exact_ exact reason. He and Sokka were being careful to not give away the new nature of their relationship before they got the chance to gather everyone to tell them as a group. Though it certainly seemed to Zuko that Sokka was doing his best to make that difficult for him when he kept looking that good in his new clothes for the celebration. 

Sokka had gotten up to answer the door to Zuko’s study to sign off on something. This gave Zuko the perfect opportunity to stare at Sokka’s ass for what had to be the tenth time so far that day. He was so preoccupied with the view that he didn’t notice that Sokka had caught him staring until he heard a low laugh and the sound of the door closing.

“Like what you see?” Sokka smirked as he walked back over to the chair he had been sitting in on the other side of Zuko’s desk.

“What happens if I say yes?” Zuko teased.

“I don’t know,” Sokka mused, leaning over the desk towards Zuko as he spoke. “Why don’t you try it and find out?” Just before their lips were about to meet they were interrupted by a loud knocking on the door. Sokka let out an annoyed huff. “I hope you aren’t overly attached to whoever is on the other side of that door, because I’m going to kill them.” Zuko just laughed and shooed him away to answer the door again. He’d be annoyed by the interruption too, but honestly the view was pretty great.


	3. I Swear On Agni, Katara, I'm Gonna Kill You For This

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So I'm deviating from my typical every other day upload schedule to bring you this. I will not be on AO3 tomorrow, and rather than make you all wait another day I decided to be nice and upload it now since I already have it written. Thanks will be accepted in the form of comments and kudos (jk, jk, but not really ;P)
> 
> Alternate title to this chapter is: Miyuki Torments Zuko More Than Necessary Part 1. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not sorry at all.

The night of the party was now in full swing. Zuko had to spend the first bit of it fulfilling his Firelord duties of greeting the visiting dignitaries and making idle chit chat as was expected of him. After a couple hours of this he managed to break free and begin on his primary mission for the night: Get Katara to Call Off Their Agreement. He made his way through the room, looking around for her.

There she was, and talking to Sokka which was perfect. He certainly wasn’t going to question why Zuko needed to talk to Katara so badly like the others might have. Zuko quickly walked up to where the siblings stood.

“Hi,” Sokka said brightly, and once again it was unfair how good he looked tonight. Zuko really wished Kissing Sokka was his primary mission of the night, but alas it was not.

“Hi,” Zuko beamed back, then turned to Katara. “Hello Katara, do you have a minute?”

“I was actually just about to find Aang to dance…” she hesitated.

“Oh, but this is really important. See, it’s about that conversation we had two years ago. I’m sure you remember the one.”

Katara bit her lip. “I do but-” Right then a guest from one of the former Earth Kingdom colonies cut in and pulled Zuko’s attention away by insisting on talking to the Firelord about something to do with crops and cabbages.

By the time Zuko had managed to extract himself from the man Katara was gone. A quick scan of the room let him know that she was no longer there. Fine. If she wanted to go wandering around the palace he would just have to join her.

* * *

Zuko had just rounded a corner in a deserted hallway when he noticed her half hiding in an alcove. He narrowed his eyes and made a beeline for her. Good luck trying to slip away from this conversation now Katara, he thought.

She whirled around right as he came up behind her. “Oh, hey Zuko,” Katara said, trying and failing to look nonchalant. “Great party. I should really be getting back to it, speaking of.”

“Oh, no you don’t,” Zuko hissed, reaching out to grab her arm before she could make an escape. “I need to talk to you about this little charade of yours. I’ve been trying to, but it’s funny how you keep avoiding me.”

Katara looked down at the floor and shuffled her foot against it nervously. “I know,” she murmured. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean for the lie to go on this long, but then it had already gone on for so long and I didn’t know how to get out of it anymore!”

“Well, you need to figure out a way!” Zuko fumed, “And you need to do it fast! I want your dad to like me, not think I’m-”

Katara quirked her head to the side as Zuko abruptly stopped talking. “Think you’re what? Why is it so important that my dad likes you?”

“I-” Zuko faltered. The sound of footsteps and low voices suddenly rang out, moving closer to where the two stood having their argument.

“I’m sorry for this,” Katara whispered before she forcefully grabbed the front of Zuko’s robes and pulled his face down to the side of her head. To anyone passing by it would look like they were engaged in an intimate moment, and spirits Zuko was having to remind himself of the whole bloodbending thing to stop himself from fighting her right then and there. 

_We were literally just having a conversation about why she needs to not do things like this_ , he thought angrily. _Now some random visitors to my palace are going to think I was making out with somebody down a deserted hallway. With my luck it’ll get back to Sokka somehow before I can talk to him._

“I swear on Agni, Katara, I’m gonna kill you for this,” Zuko hissed into her ear.

Before she got a chance to respond there was a loud “Ahem,” from behind them. The footsteps had stopped and the owners clearly wanted to talk to them now. Zuko stepped away from where Katara had pulled him and slowly turned around. And oh **fuck**. Hakoda was standing there, arms crossed in front of his chest, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Firelord Zuko,” Hakoda said, with an incline of his head towards Zuko. “Katara, I’ve been looking for you. There’s been a small accident that requires your healing abilities.”

“Oh,” Katara squeaked out. “I’ll- I’ll get right on that. Healing.”

Hakoda smiled. “Well, this definitively proves my instincts are always right! Wasn’t I just saying we should try to find Zuko because that’s likely where Katara was?”

“You sure were.” 

Zuko really thought this situation couldn’t get any worse but the universe loved to prove him wrong. He turned his head to find Sokka casually leaning up against the wall inspecting his fingernails. He had been so focused on the pure terror of finding Hakoda in front of him, of Hakoda thinking Zuko had just been making out with Katara, that he had completely forgotten the second set of footsteps and who they might belong to. **Fuck**. This was so bad.

As if drawn by Zuko’s intense focus on him Sokka looked up at him and smirked. “What? Is there something on my face?” Zuko had a sudden thought that there was no way all three of them; him, Sokka, and Katara, were going to make it out of this night alive. 

Zuko was startled out of his thoughts about the myriad of ways Sokka could hide his body so that it was never found by the sound of Hakoda’s voice. “Katara, you really should get along to help. Sokka could you take her? I’d like to have a discussion with the Firelord here.” Zuko’s head whipped around, and he gave Katara a pleading stare to help him. She just looked back anxiously and mouthed ‘Sorry!’ That decided it, she’s the one who wasn’t going to survive the night.

“Actually Dad,” Sokka drawled from behind Zuko, “could you take Katara? I really need to have a chat with my good pal Zuko here.” Sokka had moved to stand alongside Zuko, and had clapped a hand down on his shoulder as he spoke. It hurt rather more than necessary, and Zuko began running his body hiding calculations again.

Hakoda considered Sokka for a moment. “Alright. Come along Katara.” With that he turned away and gestured for her to follow him down the hall. She did so without even a backward glance at Zuko. Traitor.

“Fantastic. Just you and me now buddy,” Sokka said, and wrapped one of his hands around Zuko’s forearm and began pulling him down the hallway in the opposite direction.

_Fix this now, you need to fix this now_ , Zuko’s brain screamed at him as he stumbled along behind Sokka. “Sokka,” Zuko gulped, “I know what that looked like but I swear-”

Sokka rolled his eyes. “Could you shut up until we get where we’re going?” Zuko figured his odds of survival were better if he complied so he stayed quiet. 

* * *

They had been walking through the palace for several minutes, and Zuko was now seriously starting to wonder if Sokka even had a particular destination in mind when he was abruptly shoved sideways into a closet. “Sokka, I-” he began to say before there was a mouth on his, cutting off the rest of his sentence. He stumbled, his back hitting the wall of the closet and Sokka’s body quickly coming along to pin him there. Sokka suddenly pulled his face away, though the rest of his body stayed pressed up against Zuko. “-wasn’t kissing your sister,” Zuko finished awkwardly.

Sokka snorted. “Good. I didn’t think you were, because you wouldn’t still be breathing right now if I did.”

“Then why did you haul me away like you did in front of your dad?”

“Because this way he’ll think I gave you a firm talking to so hopefully he won’t feel the need,” Sokka stated simply. “Or, at least hopefully he won’t feel the need soon. That buys us some time to make Katara come clean to him. Then she gets to have the awkward conversation, not us.”

“Huh. That actually makes sense.”

“I am the plan guy, you know!”

“Mmmhmmm,” Zuko hummed. “So, plan guy, what’s the plan with this closet?”

Zuko could feel Sokka smile into his neck. “I’m so glad you asked darling! You remember that conversation we had in your study a little while ago? About how you were mine?”

Zuko’s breath hitched. He remembered that very well, though he wouldn’t necessarily have described it as a conversation no matter how much Sokka’s mouth was involved. “Of course I remember.”

“Well, I thought it still might be good for you to have a reminder.” Sokka began kissing Zuko’s neck, while one of his hands-

“Oooooohhhh,” Zuko couldn’t help the loud moan that escaped from his lips.

Sokka brought his face back up to Zuko’s and lightly kissed him. “What was that darling?”

“Somebody’s going to hear us,” Zuko managed to choke out, desperately trying to keep himself under control as Sokka’s hands continued to wander.

“Then I guess we’re going to have to keep real quiet,” Sokka whispered. Then his mouth was on Zuko’s again and Zuko stopped caring about anything else.

* * *

Hakoda had escorted Katara back to the main party a while ago, and was now enjoying a conversation with Iroh and a few other guests. He happened to glance over to the table in the corner where Katara had taken up residence with her friends. She looked to be having a great time, smiling and laughing with Toph, Aang, and Suki. But the odd thing was that neither Sokka nor Zuko was with them.

He frowned. It had been a long time since Hakoda had left Sokka to talk with Zuko about Katara, and he wondered how intense the conversation had turned. He hoped his son wasn’t being too rough with his friend. If Katara and Zuko were happy together he didn’t want anything to get in the way of that, even if it was Sokka trying to protect his little sister.

Hakoda scanned the room again, still not seeing them. But wait, there they were, they had just slipped back in through a side door. There didn’t seem to be any tension between them, Hakoda noted with some relief. They actually seemed a bit giddy. As he watched them Sokka leaned over to adjust the front of Zuko’s robes.

Huh, Hakoda thought, that looked rather more intimate than he would have expected. Probably nothing, just something his mind was giving too much weight to. But then Zuko reached up and brushed a stray hair out of Sokka’s face and moved closer to him and whispered something in his ear. There was no mistaking the hungry look in Sokka’s eyes as he regarded the Firelord, even from across the room. 

Hakoda sucked in a breath and quickly scanned over to where Katara sat to see if she had noticed what was happening. She wasn’t even looking in the direction of Zuko and Sokka, instead fixated on something Aang was saying. Good. Hakoda turned his attention back to where the two young men still stood, a little closer to each other than was really necessary. He narrowed his eyes as he watched them. What was Firelord Zuko playing at?


	4. Oh, I'll Take You Out In A Hallway If I Want To

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey lovely folks! Quick note before we begin. It will likely be slightly longer than usual before I upload the next chapter of this because I'm actually trying to get work done on my other WIPs. And I have more Oneshot ideas because of course I do. Why am I like this. All that is to say, don't worry! I have not abandoned you or this absurdly fun shitshow of a fic I've got going on right now. 
> 
> Some things get better (before Miyuki makes them worse again? Who knows)
> 
> We stan love and acceptance in this house and that is final.

The day following the party Zuko ran into Katara in the halls. “Hey Katara,” he said in greeting, focusing very hard on keeping his voice neutral. He needed her cooperation for this, and he also needed to keep his blood where it was thank you very much.

She looked at him apprehensively. “Hey Zuko.”

“So, we never got to finish our conversation, and it was rather an important one to me, so could you meet me in my study this afternoon?”

Katara hesitated for a moment, but seemed to realize this had to happen sooner or later. “Okay. Yeah, I’ll see you there later.”

“Excellent,” Zuko said as he walked away. Neither of them realized that this little exchange had been overheard by a few curious sets of ears. A few curious sets of ears who were now determined to find out just what this important conversation could be about.

* * *

“Hello Katara, thank you for coming,” Zuko opened the door and gestured her into the study. As she walked in she gave a visible start upon seeing Sokka sitting on the desk.

“Uh, why is he here?” she demanded.

“Good to see you too, oh favorite sister of mine,” Sokka drawled.

Katara glared at him, and then turned to level a glare at Zuko too. “Seriously, why is he here, I thought we were continuing our conversation from yesterday.”

“We are,” Zuko said, “This is a matter that concerns Sokka as well.”

“I don’t see how,” Katara spluttered. “Unless you ratted me out to him in order to try and get me to tell Dad sooner. Or unless you’re planning on making him tattle to Dad himself.” Sokka had angrily opened his mouth to retort, but before he could say anything there was a knock on the door.

“Hello sir, sorry to bother you sir,” a guard said once Zuko had opened the door. “But we found these three attempting to eavesdrop on your conversation.” Suki, Aang, and Toph shuffled into view. Suki and Aang both looked rather guilty, but Toph just looked proud.

Zuko sighed. “Let them in, they may as well be a part of this too. Maybe it’ll actually help in a strange roundabout way.”

Sokka glanced over at Katara after the others had filed in. “And here you were complaining about me being here when you went ahead and brought the whole peanut gallery.”

“I did not bring them!” Katara snapped.

“Okay,” Zuko cut in, “how about we focus on the matter at hand?”

“Uh, sorry to interrupt here, but what is the matter at hand?” Suki asked. “Inquiring minds want to know.”

“The matter at hand,” Sokka proclaimed loudly, “is that Katara needs to fess up to Dad about her being in a relationship with Aang, not crushing on Zuko.”

“Wait, you told your dad you were into Zuko?” Toph laughed.

“Yes,” Katara flushed, “Look, it was two years ago and it was the only way I could get him to let me travel with Aang. It just sort of spiralled out of control from there.”

“And now you need to figure out how to spiral it back into control,” Zuko said. “Because this can’t continue anymore.”

Katara looked a bit sick now. “I know Zuko, and I’m sorry. It’s just that Dad is going to be so mad at me.”

“Well maybe you should have thought of that before you lied to him two years ago,” Sokka huffed.

Aang moved to lay a hand on Katara’s shoulder. “I know this is scary, I’m nervous about what his reaction is going to be too, but I think it’s time to tell him.”

“Thank you Aang!” Sokka exclaimed.

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell him,” Katara sighed. “Could you give me a couple days though to figure out the best way to do it?”

“What’s wrong with marching over to him now and confessing everything?” Sokka demanded. Katara glared at him.

“Couldn’t she just have a couple more days to practice how to tell him?” Aang asked Sokka sternly. “It’s difficult for her and I don’t think a couple more days will be the end of the world.” Sokka and Zuko shared a loaded look with each other at this. 

“Fine. Fine,” Zuko said finally. “A couple of days for Katara to get her shit together-”

“Or else I’m telling,” Sokka threatened.

“Okay, that seems fair, right sweetheart?” Aang turned to plead with Katara. She nodded.

“Great,” Suki said, “Well now that we’ve gotten that figured out should we go see about finding something fun to do-”

“Wait,” Toph said, “there’s one more thing I’m curious about.”

“What is it?” Zuko asked.

“Why are you so invested in this Snoozles?”

Sokka spluttered a bit. “I’m not.” Toph raised her eyebrows at him. “I just think we shouldn’t have any secrets from family, that’s all.”

“Right, right,” Toph said, “You’re only doing this to help your family?”

“Uh, yes,” Sokka stated.

“You’re just looking out for your little sister, trying to keep her honest?”

“Clearly,” Sokka laughed nervously.

Zuko saw the trap a moment before Sokka stumbled right into it. Toph smiled innocently. “It has nothing to do with the fact that you and Zuko are hooking up?”

“Exact- wait,” Sokka faltered. But it was too late now for them to try and walk anything back.

“You’re what?” Katara shrieked.

“You guys are together?” Aang asked, a bit puzzled. Suki for her part didn’t say anything but kept looking back and forth between the two. Zuko buried his head in his hands as Toph laughed.

“How did you even find out about that?” Sokka demanded. “We’ve been so careful since everyone got here.”

“Not careful enough,” Toph snickered. “A word to the wise boys, it might be good to make sure the blind girl with a heightened sense of hearing who can sense vibrations through her feet is well far away before you start getting it on in a closet. Or should I say, before you start getting each other off in a closet?”

“No,” Zuko groaned. “No, you should never say that. Never ever again.”

“Who even taught you these things?” Sokka asked, aghast. “You’re fourteen for fuck’s sake!”

“So, forgetting everything Toph just said, you’re together?” Aang asked. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It’s still new,” Zuko sighed.

“And we were planning on telling everyone when you came for the celebration,” Sokka added, “but then…” He waved a hand in Katara’s direction.

Katara looked sad at this. “But then I messed everything up and complicated the situation.” She turned to look at Zuko, “That’s why you were saying you wanted Dad to like you.” Zuko glanced down and nodded. “Spirits, Zuko, I’m so sorry. I promise I’ll figure out a way to tell Dad. And I promise to not pretend to kiss you anymore. Which admittedly I never should have done in the first place.”

“Wait, you did what?” Aang yelped.

Sokka snickered. “At least you didn’t have to see it my friend. Though I must say Zuko’s face when he saw Dad, and then when he saw me, was pretty amazing. I didn’t know a face could go that pale.”

Zuko glared over at him. “Sure, mock your boyfriend. I thought I was going to be meeting an unfortunate demise imminently. All those assassin plots from the past two years foiled just for me to be taken out by you in a hallway.”

“Oh, I’ll take you out in a hallway if I want to,” Sokka said with a wink. The conversation quickly dissolved into friendly teasing and mayhem from there, and the group headed out to finally take Suki up on her suggestion of finding something fun to do.


	5. Look, I Don't Do Well Around Father Figures Alright?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, and welcome to Miyuki Torments Zuko More Than Necessary Part 2. I actually am sorry about it this time.
> 
> Don't say I didn't warn you.
> 
> Also, this chapter originally featured Rock Paper Scissors. The amazing agni_kai let me know that the ATLA universe actually has something similar that you can see Sokka and Aang playing in the background of one episode, so I updated the game to reflect that. (I'm not familiar entirely with how the mechanics of that would work, but I decided that Earth beats Fire, Fire Beats Air, and Air beats Earth. Adding Water would confuse the whole game and mechanics of what beats what so I left it out for my own sanity.)
> 
> Thank you agni_kai, four for you agni_kai, you go agni_kai!
> 
> (Can anyone tell I'm a millennial who watched Mean Girls like it was my job?)

Over the next few days at the Fire Nation palace Hakoda started paying more attention to the interactions between the Firelord and his children. He wound up more confused than ever though. One day Zuko would be casually walking along with his arm thrown around Sokka’s shoulder, and then the next he would insist on sitting next to Katara at dinner and whispering to her in low tones the whole time. He even tried getting information out of Toph, but that didn’t go well. Not only did she not answer his leading questions about Zuko and his children, but she somehow wound up tricking him into an arm wrestling contest that lost him a few coins and some of his dignity.

Hakoda resolved to go straight to the source of all this nonsense: Zuko.

* * *

Zuko was working in his study a couple days before the others were set to depart. As much as he wanted to be spending all his time with his friends right now, he still had the very real responsibilities of running a country to contend with. Anyway, he would get to see them later at dinner.

He found himself interrupted by a knock on the door. “Enter,” he called.

A guard opened the door. “Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe to see you sir.”

Zuko’s heart rose. Katara must have finally spoken to him. “Please let him in. Thank you.” The guard nodded and ushered Hakoda into the room, and Zuko gestured for him to take a seat in the chair across from his desk.

“Thank you for seeing me Firelord Zuko,” Hakoda said as he sat down.

“Of course, Chief Hakoda. Is there any particular reason for you wanting to speak with me?”

“There is, actually,” Hakoda shifted a bit uncomfortably. “I do hope you know that I am coming to you as a father in this moment, rather than as a leader of another nation. You know my children?”

Zuko laughed, “Yes, sir, I know your children quite well!”

Hakoda stilled, an upset expression crossing his face for an instant before he restored it back into a neutral mask. “Well, yes, that seems to be the problem. My children. And how, _well,_ you know them.”

Zuko froze and cleared his throat. “I’m afraid I don’t follow sir.”

“Young man, I know you are the ruler of this nation, and I have great respect for all you’ve done in the past two years. However, as a father I am not going to sit back and let you mess with the feelings of not just one, but both of my children.”

“Sir, I promise I am not trying to mess with either of your children’s feelings!” Zuko gasped. So clearly Katara hadn’t talked to him yet. Fantastic. This conversation was going fantastic.

“Even if those are not your intentions, it still seems to me to be what is happening. I mean, Katara’s had a crush on you for years, and you two certainly looked cozy together the other night. But then you were blatantly flirting with Sokka later that very same night. Forgive me if I am reading this situation wrong, but I felt I had to say something. I may be the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, but I am a father first and foremost. And I am not about to let anyone hurt my children.” Zuko couldn’t do anything but gape at him, feeling rather like he had just been slapped. “Thank you for your time Firelord Zuko, and I trust you will take this matter seriously.” With that Hakoda stood up, bowed to Zuko, and left. 

Zuko found he couldn’t do anything but stare at the door as it closed.

* * *

Sokka, Suki, Aang, Katara, and Toph were spending the afternoon roaming around the gardens at the palace, taking a moment away from their responsibilities to be the teenagers they all were. Sokka wished Zuko could be with them, but understood that his duties were rather more pressing than theirs and unfortunately couldn’t be put off so easily.

A few hours after the group headed outside Aang and Katara were playing some sort of game they had invented for waterbending, while Sokka and Suki were attempting to find out if they could stump Toph at playing Earth Fire Air. The current theory was that she could somehow sense what move they would throw next, which was proving true. So the two were now experimenting with ways to beat her.

As they were in the middle of their twenty-third round of trickery Zuko came out into the garden. Sokka noticed instantly since at this point he basically had Zuko-detection built in. Something both Suki and Toph caught on to and began taunting him for promptly.

“Awwww,” Suki cooed, “I swear I saw little hearts appear in your eyes just now.”

Toph laughed, “Do you think Sparky would be able to catch you if you ran dramatically into his arms? Could you try anyway? It would be really funny if you fell into the pond on accident.”

“Oh shut up,” Sokka snapped goodnaturedly. He wouldn’t admit it to them but their teasing actually made him happy. It proved their acceptance of his and Zuko’s relationship. He looked back over to where Zuko was making his way over to the group and knew something was wrong. Zuko was looking down and moving slowly. “Zuko?” he called, concerned.

Aang and Katara stopped playing their game as Sokka stood up and walked swiftly over to Zuko.

“Zuko? What’s wrong?” he asked. Zuko gave a short, humorless laugh as Sokka reached him.

“Nothing’s wrong! Why would you say such things? Your dad hates me and will always hate me, but I suppose that’s to be expected,” Zuko said bitterly.

“Okay, now you’re scaring me a bit. What happened?” Sokka stepped even closer, though to do what he didn’t know. Zuko clearly did not want to be touched right now, even if it was meant to be comforting, and Sokka was very respectful towards his boyfriend’s boundaries.

“He knows about us,” Zuko mumbled, and Sokka’s heart dropped. He had always known that there was the possibility his dad wouldn’t be as understanding and accepting as the others had been, as Sokka had wanted him to be. But to actually get confirmation of that was another thing altogether.

He swallowed roughly, “Oh,” was all he managed to get out. Zuko looked up at him at that, and an alarmed expression crossed his face.

“No!” he yelled, startling the others even as they watched the exchange from a distance. “I mean, that’s- that’s not what the problem is. He-” Zuko puffed out a short breath. “He thinks I’m involved with you AND Katara. 

Now Sokka’s face morphed to one of horror. “What?” he gasped, then quickly rounded to face where Katara was sitting next to the pond. “Katara!” he yelled angrily, stomping over to her, Zuko following close behind.

“What?” her eyes darted back and forth between them as they approached her and Aang, Toph and Suki surreptitiously moving closer as well.

“Dad thinks Zuko is messing us both around, so the jig is up. You have to tell him now. Today.” Sokka spat.

Katara looked alarmed and clambered to her feet. “He does?”

“Yes,” Zuko drawled, “We just had a lovely conversation about it. I believe ‘Keep up with stringing my children along and hurting them and you will die’ was the gist of what he was saying. I’ll admit I started panicking inwardly rather early on though so I could be wrong.”

Katara gulped, “And you didn’t- you didn’t correct him?”

“Did you miss the panicking part of what I just said?”

“Well, you still could have corrected him…”

“Look, I don’t do well around father figures alright?” Zuko snapped.

“Oh, yeah. Right.” Katara nervously looked down.

“I know we agreed this was your problem to solve, but you better solve it right this fucking minute unless you want me to go ahead and tell Dad instead!” Sokka fumed.

“Hey,” Aang jumped in, seeing how close Katara was to tears. “Maybe lay off a bit, she gets how bad the situation is.”

“Clearly not enough since she’s let it go on for this fucking long!” Sokka yelled.

“It’s not like she’s the only one who started this mess, Zuko was part of it too!” Aang shot back.

“Yes, but I’ve been trying to shut this situation down for days now, unlike her,” Zuko scoffed.

“Well, it hardly helps the situation when you keep trying to sit next to me at meals!” Katara said, glaring at Zuko.

“Hey,” Zuko hissed, “I do that to offer useful suggestions for ways you could tell your father about this lie of yours! Ways that will hopefully result in him being kind and forgiving to you.”

Katara scoffed. “Yes because ‘Katara, if you don’t talk to him soon I’m gonna tell you about what I did with your brother the other day’ is such a helpful suggestion.”

Zuko just glared back. “That wasn’t meant to be a helpful suggestion, that was a threat.” Sokka burst into laughter at that, causing the corners of Zuko’s lips to quirk up and him to look smugly pleased with himself. “Sokka thinks I’m funny.”

“I’m not entirely sure that counts,” Suki said, “since you’re sleeping with him, and I’m pretty sure he has a vested interest in you continuing to sleep with him.”

Sokka adopted an overly exaggerated lovesick face. “Gee, Suki, it’s so romantic when you put it that way.”

“Anyway,” Zuko cut in, ‘that’s not what this is about-” The group is distracted though before Zuko can finish his sentence by the appearance of Hakoda on the other side of the garden.

“Perfect,” Sokka breathed, moving towards him. “Now or never.”


	6. I Need To Talk To You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… you guys may hate me a little. I added another chapter to the story. I know! I know, I’m sorry! But as I was writing it got really long, and I realized that the last part functioned kinda as an epilogue of sorts. So now it’s longer. But don’t worry, the big reveal we’ve all been waiting for still happens in this chapter. I love you all. Don’t punch me for this.
> 
> On that note, thank you all so, so much for your support on this fic. It has truly meant everything to me. I’ll get more sappy in the notes for the actual final chapter (again, soz about that) but I still wanted to say it here as well. Also, soz? Who do I think I am, I’m not British.
> 
> Honorable mention to user @sortakindagay, for a line of dialogue I tried to find a way to use but failed at- "sir i'm a homosexual.” I really tried but I just couldn’t find a natural place for it in this chapter. Please forgive me, I hope this note will honor you instead.
> 
> Hey, I’m on Tumblr @miyuki-scourgeofthefirenation. Please interact with me.

Hakoda had just wanted to take a nice, leisurely stroll through the palace gardens. He hadn’t gotten much of a chance to enjoy them before, and was determined to do so before he was set to depart the following day. However, upon walking out into the gardens he found himself greeted with the sound of indistinct yelling coming from the other side of a large area of trees and bushes.

Curious despite himself and his desire for a calm afternoon, he walked around to see what all the fuss was about. Only to find his children and their friends. 

Suki and Toph were hanging back, observing the situation from a distance. Katara, Sokka, Aang, and Zuko were standing in a clump together near the pond, all looking very angry. This must have to do with the conversation he had with Zuko this morning. But, Hakoda thought suddenly, why then did it seem like the person the others were most angry at was Katara? Surely it should be Zuko. 

Before he had a chance to even begin trying to puzzle through that the group looked over and became aware of his presence. A determined look came over Sokka’s face and he began walking over to where Hakoda stood. “Dad!” he called, “I need to talk to you!”

A panicked expression flashed over Katara’s face, and she raced up alongside Sokka, trying to get ahead of him. “Wait,” she cried, grabbing her brother’s arm.

“What are you doing? Get the fuck off!” Sokka flailed. The two grappled for a moment before tipping over and falling into the pond. It was like Hakoda watched it all in slow motion. Katara grabbing for Sokka’s arm to pull him back, Sokka trying to shake her off, Katara stumbling into Sokka, Sokka losing his balance, the two falling in an arc that somehow managed to be both comic and graceful back into the pond.

Toph instantly started cackling and whispering something to Suki who giggled and whispered something back. Zuko and Aang for their part raced to the side of the pond to help Hakoda’s children out. All he could do was sigh, and watch as they hauled them out of the water. He couldn’t help but notice that Zuko helped Sokka out while Aang helped Katara. In fact, all of Zuko’s energy and attention seemed to be focused on Sokka, without any real consideration given to Katara beyond a spare glance tossed her way once or twice. Something uneasy shifted in Hakoda’s gut as he watched their interactions.

After the group established a lack of injuries and the two were waterbended dry, Sokka squared his shoulders back. “Right,” he said, shooting another glare at Katara and marching over to Hakoda.

“Wait, Sokka,” she said, drawing up alongside him in front of Hakoda.

“What Katara? He needs to know! This can’t continue, I won’t let it continue!” Sokka hissed, exasperated. Hakoda raised his eyebrows, both at the tone and the words.

Katara swallowed, “I know. Just, please let me tell him. I- I owe you that I think.” Sokka gave her a long, searching look before nodding stiffly.

“I’m gonna go back over there,” he said, pointing over to where the others stood. “Just remember, I’m watching you.” He made a gesture with his hands indicating having his eyes on her, then walked away, casting a few suspicious glances back as he went.

Katara took a deep breath before turning back to face Hakoda head on. “Do you want to explain to me what that was about, Katara?” he asked. “Apparently something I need to know?”

“Yes,” she gulped. “Could- could we go sit on that bench over there so I can explain? I’m afraid I have a lot of it to do.”

* * *

Once the two had settled themselves on the nearby bench, still in view of the others who had since gone to sit under a tree and very obviously watch Hakoda and Katara, Hakoda looked expectantly at his daughter. “Well? What’s going on?”

She took a long moment, clearly steeling herself to do something. “So, I want to start this out by saying that I love you Dad, so much. And respect you. That’s important as well.”

Hakoda blinked. “Okay, I love you too ‘Tara, but I somehow doubt that’s what Sokka needed me to know so badly.”

It’s not,” Katara bit her lip. “I sort of, fibbed a little.”

“Fibbed a little?”

“Maybe, fibbed a lot?” she winced.

“Hmmmm,” Hakoda murmured. “How so?” he asked, even as some things started to come together a bit clearer in his head.

“I don’t have a crush on Zuko. Never did. Never been involved with him in any way, shape, or form.”

“I see.” Hakoda didn’t say anything further, just looked long and hard at Katara on the bench next to him.

She seemed to catch on that it was up to her to offer an explanation. “I’m sorry. I…” she looked down at her hands, which were nervously twisting her skirt. “I wanted to be able to go travel around with Aang, and I didn’t think you would let me if you knew…”

Hakoda sighed, “Knew what Katara?”

“Knew that Aang and I were, sort of… A thing.”

“A thing,” Hakoda echoed. “You were worried I wouldn’t let my 14 year old daughter go off and travel the world with the Avatar, who she happened to be romantically involved with?”

“Uh,” Katara faltered, “yes?”

Hakoda let out a humorless bark of laughter. “You’re damn right I wouldn’t have allowed that. I don’t know any parent who would be totally on board with that idea. But that doesn’t mean you can lie about the situation to get what you want.”

Katara winced. “I know, and I’m so, so sorry Dad. Really. I am.”

“And because you’re sorry now that makes it okay that you lied to me for two years? And that you used Zuko, your friend Zuko, for two years? Tui and La, no wonder the poor kid looked so sick when I talked to him in his study. You realize that I talked to him in his study about this situation right? Because I was trying to be a good father and protect you and your brother. Instead, I apparently humiliated an innocent man for no reason.” Hakoda felt a bit sick himself now, remembering what he had said to the Firelord, and how shocked Zuko had looked during their meeting. Now at least he understood why.

“I know, I know my saying sorry doesn’t automatically fix anything, and that I’m gonna have to work really hard to regain your trust. And as for Zuko…” she trailed off as she looked over to where he sat with the others, listening intently to something Toph was saying while his and Sokka’s hands seemed to keep getting closer and closer to each other on the grass. She then laughed nervously, pulling Hakoda’s attention back to her. “I mean, technically he knew that I told you I had a crush on him-” she quickly wilted under the stare he fixed her with. “Again, though, I know that doesn’t make anything better.”

“It doesn’t,” Hakoda sighed, then was quiet for a long while, thinking. Katara seemed to sense that she shouldn’t interrupt his thoughts, and sat quietly next to him, waiting. Finally, he came to a conclusion about what to do next. “Katara,” he said seriously, turning to look at her. “You have spent the last two years lying to me and using one of your friends in order to get what you wanted. I believe you when you say you’re sorry, I do. However, I do not think I would be doing my duty as your father if I let you get away with this just on that apology alone. You are not an adult yet, and my job of raising you and teaching you right from wrong didn’t just stop when you became a teenager. You are still my child, no matter how grown you think you are, understand?”

“Yes, I understand,” Katara mumbled.

“Good. So, bearing that in mind, I have decided that you will leave with me tomorrow for home.” Katara’s head shot up at that to gape at him. “You will help out in the Southern Water Tribe with our rebuilding work for the next year until you turn 18. Once you are 18 you can decide what you want to do next, whether you want to rejoin Aang with his travels. However, until that time you will stay at the South Pole with me and the other members of the Tribe, unless I give you permission to go elsewhere. Aang is welcome to visit on occasion, so long as advance notice is given to me and he does not stay for too long. Which I don’t imagine he would be able to do anyway what with his duties, but I still want to make that perfectly clear.”

A sad sort of expression crossed Katara’s face, but she didn’t try to push back against what he had said. “That- that seems more than reasonable. Thank you Dad.”

He nodded. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind sending Zuko over. I’d like to talk with him. And I imagine you should speak with Aang and get your things ready for our departure tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that,” Katara murmured, standing up. She walked back over to where the others were and spoke to them briefly. As Hakoda watched Katara and Aang disappeared out of the garden, presumably to have a talk of their own. Zuko stood up, and Hakoda caught the moment when Sokka gave Zuko’s hand a quick squeeze and Zuko looked down at him and smiled gratefully. Spirits, Hakoda had really gotten this one all wrong. Now it was time for him to do some fixing of his own.

* * *

“You wanted to talk to me, sir?” Zuko had reached the bench where Hakoda was sitting and bowed.

“Yes,” Hakoda said, “please sit.” Zuko did so, noticeably nervous. Hakoda sighed inwardly, he had really, really gotten this wrong. No time to beat around the bush now though. “I owe you an apology.”

Zuko’s head shot up to look Hakoda in the eye. “An… an apology, sir?”

Hakoda gave him a small smile that he hoped was encouraging, “Yes, an apology. I jumped to the worst conclusion I could without giving you any kind of chance to explain the truth. I am deeply, deeply sorry for my actions. Specifically the words I used earlier today. That was uncalled for, especially now that I know the truth about the situation, or lack thereof, between you and Katara. I do hope you will accept my apology, and consider forgiving me for my misunderstanding.”

Zuko seemed slightly taken aback by Hakoda’s words. With another twinge of regret Hakoda realized that he wasn’t used to having authority figures, father figures, apologize to him. After a pause Zuko spoke again. “Thank you. It means a lot to me that you would say that, and I do accept your apology.” He then gave a short laugh. “And after all, I did technically agree to go along with the plan. In the beginning. Before…” At that he trailed off and cast a glance over to where Sokka still sat under the tree.

“Be that as it may,” Hakoda said, “this was still Katara’s idea, and her lie. _You_ certainly never told me you two were together or anything of the sort. Though I do hope this serves as a lesson for you too.” Zuko looked at him, confusion in his eyes. Hakoda smiled a bit. “A lesson to not just go along with what your friends want you to do. If they’re really your friends they won’t pressure you and make you feel bad about it.”

“Oh, yeah,” Zuko nodded then. “I mean, I was more concerned about the whole bloodbending thing anyway.” He held up his hands in a position that mimicked bloodbending, before awkwardly dropping his hands back to his lap.

Hakoda chuckled, “I know my daughter can be somewhat headstrong, but I doubt she would have been stupid enough to risk restarting the war by bloodbending the new Firelord.”

“You’re probably right,” Zuko laughed, “but still. You see the girl bloodbend someone once, and you’re not particularly inclined to take any chances after that.” The two sat in companionable silence for a moment.

“So,” Hakoda cleared his throat. “Not to make this uncomfortable, but I feel the need to be sure I have this absolutely correct now. You and Sokka…”

“Together,” Zuko confirmed. “Yes, very much so.” He paused for a second and blushed. “Romantically. In- in case that wasn’t clear.”

Hakoda grinned, “It was clear, but thank you for the extra confirmation.” Zuko smiled back, and looked over again to where the man in question sat. He had now apparently somehow been dragged into a headlock by Toph, and was spluttering angrily trying to get free while Suki laughed and mussed up his hair. Hakoda was pleased to see how much open affection was written across Zuko’s face at that moment. He had the feeling his son’s heart was safe with the Firelord. “Well,” he said, drawing Zuko’s attention back to him, “should we go free him? Having been on the receiving end of one of Toph’s displays of strength, I don’t imagine that can be comfortable.”

“Yeah,” Zuko smiled, standing up, and the two ambled over to the tree to join the others.


	7. Yeah, Like Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One last time folks! Before we begin, if anyone reads these notes, I just wanted to say thank you all so much. The outpouring of support for this fic has been beyond anything I ever expected it to be. I’m so glad you have enjoyed it, and came along with me for this ride. To think, this was originally supposed to be a short oneshot, and instead became this. It warms my cold heart. You all, with your kind comments, warm my cold heart even more. Thank you!
> 
> If you ever want to talk anything Avatar or Zukka with me, you can find me at @miyuki-scourgeofthefirenation on Tumblr. I would love to scream with you about anything and everything.
> 
> Also, if you have any fic requests please, please, please feel free to send those my way on there! This story was born of a fic request after all, and I think it became some of my best work. I welcome anybody’s ideas, or prompts they found that they would like to see written, or just anything you might enjoy (within reason). Have an AU you love? Found a writing prompt that seems fun? Saw a funny situational text post on Tumblr like the one that inspired this fic? Send ‘em my way!
> 
> Also also, I have other stories here on AO3 that I hope you might consider checking out! They’re all Zukka, and most of them are Modern AU because that’s what I find myself drawn to writing a lot. 
> 
> Without further ado, and that was a lot of ado I know, let’s get on with the show!

They all gathered in a small dining room that night for a private farewell dinner. Just Zuko, Sokka, Suki, Toph, Katara, Aang, Iroh, and Hakoda. Katara, Hakoda, and Iroh were set to leave the next morning. Aang was staying on a few days longer to attend to some Avatar business in the Fire Nation before heading off to the Earth Kingdom. Suki and Toph had decided to stay on as well to spend more time with their friends, and were going to be getting a ride on Appa back home with Aang when he left.

Sokka was glad to have these last few hours with his friends and family. He and Zuko finally got to make their originally planned announcement of their relationship. (“We have an announcement to make. And you’re all gonna pretend like you don’t already know so we can at least have this one moment!” The group was kind enough to oblige, with only moderate heckling from Toph.)

After they had finished dinner the group moved to a nearby room that had more comfortable chairs in it. No one was eager for the night to be over yet. The night being over meant they had to say goodbye soon. 

Hakoda, Iroh, Toph, and Suki were currently sitting around a low table. Iroh had decided to take Toph up on her arm wrestling challenge, and was actually giving her quite the fight. Hakoda was whooping, cheering Iroh on, while Suki gleefully trash-talked both participants.

Zuko had taken up residence on a small bench set into a window along one side of the room. Sokka joined him, casually throwing his legs over Zuko’s lap, reveling the whole time that he had the freedom to do so openly now. Zuko smiled, and brought one of Sokka’s hands up to his mouth and pressed a quick kiss to the back of it. 

“What are you doing sitting all the way over here?” Sokka asked him teasingly.

“Just taking a moment to appreciate everyone being here, together like this,” Zuko said, his eyes sweeping over everyone in the room. His gaze caught on something in the far corner, and Sokka turned his attention to it. Aang and Katara. They were sitting together on a pile of cushions, murmuring softly and looking a bit sad. Zuko sighed, “Do you think they’ll be alright?”

Sokka snorted and rolled his eyes. “They’ll be fine. Honestly, some time apart will probably be good for them. They’ve been around each other fairly constantly for the past three years. They really should start figuring out how their relationship will work when they have to go stretches of time without seeing each other.”

“Like us?”

Sokka swallowed at that. Both he and Zuko knew that he wasn’t going to be able to stay full-time in the Fire Nation. He had things he needed to take care of at home, as well as other plans on a more global scale. It was going to be difficult to be away from each other, but he knew they could handle it. “Yeah, like us.” 

Zuko’s thumb lightly traced a pattern around Sokka’s hand as they sat there, watching the others. He spoke up suddenly, “And anyway, he’ll probably be visiting the Southern Water Tribe soon right? To help with the Nations Embassy Complex?”

“Yeah,” Sokka said, a slight smirk playing around his lips. “There is that. Speaking of, should probably get travel plans started for that here too. It’s just a few months away after all.”

Zuko hummed in agreement. “Yes, we’ll make sure to arrange for the boat to be equipped for your journey.”

“Boats.”

“Boats?” Zuko turned to look at Sokka, a confused expression on his face. “Why would you need multiple boats?”

“Well, I don’t. See, I was actually sort of hoping you might like to come with.” Sokka said slyly.

“Come with? On a visit to your home?”

Sokka chuckled, “It has been awhile since you’ve last seen it. I thought it might be nice for you to see it again, now that we’ve gotten it more built up. And, y’know, since you won’t be attacking it this time.” 

Zuko swatted at him with an exasperated laugh, before quieting again and going rather still. “That would be nice. I would really like that, thank you,” he finally said in a sweet voice.

Sokka grinned, “Anything for you baby!” and leaned in to kiss his boyfriend on the cheek.

Zuko flushed red and smiled. “But wait,” he said, “I still don’t know why we would need two boats, surely we could just take a larger one?”

“We need two boats because I’ll need to stay on down there for several months. And I know that as much as you need a vacation, badly I might add, you still can’t be gone from here for that long.” Sokka shrugged. “Hence, two boats for when we leave.”

“Hmmmm,” Zuko mused jokingly, “You do have a point.”

“Plan Guy!” Sokka remarked, pointing at himself. “I swear we’ve been over this!”

“We have Plan Guy,” Zuko laughed, pulling Sokka in for a proper kiss. “We have.”

**Author's Note:**

> Spare kudos or comments sir? Please sir, may I have some spare comments and kudos?
> 
> Big, huge thank you to the person on Tumblr who requested that I write this prompt! It made me actually think about it and come up with this idea, which I now love, that I never would have come up with otherwise. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Fun fact: the working title of the fic was ‘Miyuki Torments Zuko for like 7,000 words because she thinks it’s funny.’ True story. Whoops, make that like 10,000 words now. Damn, final word count is over 11,000 words. I do be writing, huh?
> 
> Yes, all my other stories will still be updated, I just get distracted easily. And I’ve learned the hard way that I really need to follow the writing muse when it calls. And boy was it calling for this baby.


End file.
